[Comparative to Zaobao] Twitter is considering adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet; Blue Ridge Bank was suspended by the NYSE after announcing support for purchasing Bitcoin through ATMs; Mastercard will allow merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments this year;

Blockchain news you need to know every morning:

[Twitter is considering adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet]

Social media giant Twitter is considering adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet. Twitter Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that if Twitter employees and vendors ask for Bitcoin payments, then the company might consider investing in Bitcoin as part of its financial strategy. He mentioned, “We've done a lot of early consideration, such as how to pay employees if they ask to pay in Bitcoin, how to pay them if suppliers ask to pay in Bitcoin, and whether we need to hold Bitcoin on our balance sheet if this happens.”

[Blue Ridge Bank was suspended by the NYSE after announcing support for purchasing Bitcoin through ATMs]

On Wednesday, the Virginia-headquartered Blue Ridge Bank (Blue Ridge) announced that customers would be allowed to buy bitcoins at its ATMs, after which the company's shares were suspended on the NYSE. Blue Ridge Bank said that there are 19 ATMs that support Bitcoin purchase and exchange services this time. To achieve this goal, the bank partnered with national ATM operator BluePoint and Boston-based Bitcoin ATM software provider LibertyX. In 2020, as demand for contactless payments surged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of Bitcoin ATMs also increased rapidly. Blue Ridge Bank had assets of $1.5 billion at the end of the third quarter of 2020, and the bank's CEO Brian Plum said the new service was launched to further develop to meet “current and future customer needs.”

[Mastercard will allow merchants to accept cryptocurrency payments this year]

Payments giant Mastercard plans to give merchants on its network the option to receive payments in cryptocurrency later this year. According to people familiar with the matter to the crypto media Coindesk, Mastercard will support digital currency payments settled in cryptocurrencies. This is the first time for the financial giant. The company has yet to reveal which digital currencies it plans to support, or in which regions. Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach promised in the fourth quarter of last year to integrate digital currency payments on its network, as previously reported by “Comparative”. He said this would provide customers and merchants with maximum flexibility. Previously, Mastercard supported limited cryptocurrency transactions through its crypto card partners Wirex and Uphold. However, these projects only cover payment, not settlement; cryptocurrencies have already been converted to legal tender before they reach merchants. Mastercard's new initiative is expected to enable store owners and merchants to do business beyond the boundaries of the fiat ecosystem, provided, of course, their customers are willing to use cryptocurrency to pay.

[Bitcoin falls below $45,000, leading the avalanche agreement for star public chain projects]

Over the past 24 hours, the overall crypto market has been improving. The avalanche agreement for star public chain projects led the rise, with Bitcoin and Ethereum falling slightly, with Bitcoin falling below $45,000. Among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, Cardano's ADA token had the highest increase of 27%. The current total market capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is $1,378,088,386,560, and the 24-hour trading volume is $362,148,682,420. Bitcoin accounts for 60.35% of the market. In the past 24 hours, 13 of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization have risen, and 55 of the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization have risen. The overall cryptocurrency market is trending upward. The top 3 increases were: Avalanche (79.23%), Celo (38.40%), and Qtum (34.08%). The top 3 declines were Terra (-14.41%), Elrond (-14.30%), and BitTorrent (-13.78%).

[Bank of America Report: Investors Should Be Careful About Digital Assets Such as Bitcoin]

Bank of America stated in a report released this week that investors should be careful about digital assets such as Bitcoin. According to the report, the fixed rate of return on current investments has reached a record low, the expected return on large-cap stocks is low, and investors are turning to other options. Cryptocurrency represented by Bitcoin is one of them. Bank of America notes in its report that due to limited total circulation, Bitcoin is viewed by many cryptocurrency advocates as a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation. In 2020, Bitcoin became more widely used due to the multi-trillion dollar monetary stimulus policies adopted by the Federal Reserve and other central banks. As some professional investors allocated some of their assets as bitcoins, the price of the asset rose from $3,900 in March 2020 to $42,000 in January 2020, an increase of 970%.

[ECB President: The central bank is unlikely to hold Bitcoin]

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde (Christine Lagarde) said today that it is “very unlikely” that central banks hold Bitcoin. Lagarde said at the press conference that she doesn't think Bitcoin is a real currency and that it is “highly unlikely” that the central bank will use Bitcoin as a reserve currency in the short term. But she added that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the digital euro is now more realistic and can be ready in four years. According to a previous report in “Comparisons,” Lagarde said in January of this year that Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, is a “highly speculative asset” involved in money laundering, and said that global cooperation is necessary to regulate Bitcoin.

[Will big companies follow Tesla to buy Bitcoin? Grayscale Say Yes J.P. Morgan Chase Say No]

This week, Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Digital asset management company Grayscale believes this may trigger other large companies to follow suit, but J.P. Morgan does not agree with this view. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday that more tech leaders and institutional investors are likely to follow Elon Musk into Bitcoin after Tesla's $1.5 billion bid in Bitcoin. He believes that institutional demand for Bitcoin has only increased unabated. After entering 2021, the amount of assets managed by Grayscale, along with the price of Bitcoin, hit a record high. Sonnenshein said that record capital inflows have continued, indicating that Bitcoin's current rally is likely to continue. He stressed that regulation is not a concern for potential investors, and many investors are satisfied with the current regulatory clarity. Not everyone agreed with Sonnenshein, though. J.P. Morgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in a Wednesday report that don't expect other large companies to follow Tesla's decision to add Bitcoin to their balance sheets.

Author Amy Liu

This article is from Bitpush.News. The source must be indicated for reprinting.